Where have I been?

Hey this blogging stuff is not easy.  I dont have access to internet all the time and there is not a lot of free time!
First let me paint the picture.  There are about 24 of us and only two from the US.  The others are from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Germany.  It is such an interesting group as this is the way Contiki always operates and such a great way to meet people.  The only thing is I could be the mother to everyone of them.  They are all between 25 and 35 years old and quite adventure travellers.  They came with their big backpacks and I came with my heavy suitcase.  They look great not taking a shower and can get ready in about 20 minutes.  We just had two days in the Amazon that were amazing.  We flew from Lima to Cusco to Puerto Maldonado.where we hiked, swam. picniced  by the river followed by volleyball.   The town is a little town where everybody rides motorcyles for their  means of transportation and live a very simple life. Then we stayed at the most awesome jungle lodge which is Posada Amazonas   Check out this video when you have a moment and you will see what it is like to really be in the jungle.  We hiked, kayaked,
even learned  to tree climb.  I didnt but my young friends did. What do you do at this jungle lodge?  Lay in bed and listen to the jungle sounds. We had wall that was completely open in our room. We saw monkeys in the trees; saw 14 macaws and 2 capybarra that are the most disgusting rodents but we enjoyed watching them from our little boat at night.  We flew back today and are now in Cusco.  We had a wonderful tour of the Cusco Cathedral by one of our guides who grew up in a little village outside of Cusco and could tell us all about the Inca culture.  Then the action of the night was the soccer game between Peru and Chile. Everybody was out in the streets  main square was packed with fans and unfortunately Peru lost 4 to 2.  It sure made for a fun night though!  Got to go to bed   All packed and ready to go to the Sacred Valley.  So far survived any altitude sickness as we are 11,500 feet!  Promise to be better at this!

Cheers

Joan